Chapter 41

Ollie’s POV

I might not have garnered any information from Hugh about how much he and his brothers know about my plans to leave the pack, but during our wild time together in that cabin, I did learn one valuable fact about myself.

I cannot be trusted to keep my thoughts in order when I’m around a naked Hugh.

Lesson learned.

Now, on graduation day, it’s dangerously close to being too late to find out how much they know. I can only hope they don’t have any suspicions and I make it through the ceremony without any issues.

I purposefully didn’t tell the guidance office which university I planned to attend so they wouldn’t be able to announce anything when I receive my diploma. Annoyingly, they didn’t ask either. I don’t want to make assumptions, but I can’t help thinking of that woman’s attitude toward Omegas. Maybe they just don’t expect one to want to attend a university.

Well, she’s wrong. I do want to attend, and Abigail personally emailed me just this morning to tell me that she has received my new application. This was just an acknowledgement of the receipt of the application, not an acceptance, but I still feel like I’m walking on air.

One step at a time. And this is a pretty big step.

I try to put all this in the back of my mind. The brothers already warned me that today is Sylvia’s day, despite the fact that Ella and I are also graduating. As such, I need to make sure I fall in line in every day. Even a perceived slight could land me in hot water today, and I don’t want to give Sylvia or the brothers any reason to turn against me again.

I’m far too close to escaping.

After dressing in a nice sundress with my black graduation gown, I grab my cap and head upstairs to the living room to meet Ella and her parents. Diana and the brothers are also there, fawning over Sylvia, who looks like she has had her hair and makeup professionally done today. Likely, she has. There’s no expense the brothers wouldn’t spare for their sister.

No one looks at me when I come in, Ella’s parents focused on her, and everyone else focused on Sylvia.

I should be happy for this, as it means I’m successfully not drawing any attention.

But it’s kind of lonely.

The loneliness persists. Though I ride in the car with Ella and her parents, only Ella acknowledges me with a smile now and then. Her parents are so proud of her. I’m happy for her, but it also cuts deeply because I don’t have this. There’s no one to be proud of me.

The graduation is held in the school auditorium. The place is already packed, filled to the brim with parents and family. The graduates, me included, all stand in the back, lining up in the atrium. I try to stay near Ella, but she’s washed away in a sea of black caps and gowns.

Once I lose her, I can’t find her again.

There doesn’t seem to be any order to the way people are standing, so when the procession music starts, I find an empty spot and stick to it.

Then a teacher pulls me to the side. “As an omega, you have to be at the end,” she said.

“What?”

“Don’t be a problem,” she insists. “The end of the line. Now.”

I don’t want to make drama. That’s my mantra. Keep my head down. Don’t make trouble. Survive.

So I swallow my humiliation and step out of the line of my classmates. They all look at me, judging me, as I walk down toward the very back of the line.

The person already at the end of the line turns her nose up at me. “I have to be next to the Omega. Really?”

“You should have done better on your exams,” the teacher says.

Once I’m in position, she leaves me there to oversee the rest of the line. The girl in front of me gives me a dirty look before facing forward again.

I lower my head and wait nearly forever for my turn to enter the room. I march into the room following my peers. The teacher stops me from going into the row with the other students. Instead, she makes me stay back and sit on the end of the line of teachers. Their robes are more garish than mine. It’s clear I don’t belong.

I’m starting to realize it’s a wonder I was allowed to attend graduation at all. Maybe they would have preferred if I sat outside.

I try to be happy I’m here. This is my graduation after all, and Omega or not, they can’t take away everything I’ve worked hard to achieve.

The ceremony starts off well enough, with speeches from the principal and the student representative. Then comes Conrad’s turn to take the podium.

Behind him, sitting with the faculty on the stage, are all the brothers, as well as Sylvia. She’s the only one allowed to sit on the stage.

Conrad clears his throat. “Thank you,” he says as the applause winds down.

When the auditorium is quiet, he begins.

“Congratulations on completing this monumental achievement. Soon, you will either head on to university or enter the work force of the pack, helping to push for a better tomorrow for the entirety of the pack.

“As you move forward to the next chapter of your lives, know that the prosperity of the pack comes from the diligence and loyalty of each and every one of you. Everyone has their place here, from the brightest and the boldest, to the lowest among us…”

He didn’t say my name but I still feel eyes on me. Through sheer willpower, I refrain from sinking into my seat. I keep my head high, my chin up. Let them look at this Omega. I will not cower or hide.

“Your pack must always come first in your heart,” Conrad says. “Duty and loyalty are paramount… Ideal qualities that must be cultivated inside each and every one of us…”

As I look up at the stage, my breath catches in my throat. Conrad should be giving this speech to the entire room. As one of the Alphas, he should be speaking to all of his subjects.

Instead, it seems like he is looking straight at me.

“If you betray the pack, you are betraying yourself,” Conrad says to me. “As Alphas, my brothers and I cannot and will not allow this.”

My heart freezes over in a coldsnap.

He knows. He has to know. Did they find my letter? Is that how they found out?

I’m not sure. I have no way of knowing really, but I am absolutely certain that he knows.

There’s no reason to threaten a room full of otherwise loyal subjects. As far as I could tell from checking the sheet of everyone’s university obligations, I’m the only one with any intent on leaving the pack.

This entire speech…

It shouldn’t be. He shouldn’t care enough whether I stay or go to hijack an entire high school graduation, especially one where he should be focusing on his sister.

He said this was Sylvia’s day. He said I needed to respect that.

So why is he up there, looking right at me, and talking as if I’ve already betrayed him?